In these times of turmoil and dismay, when public fears are rampant and the danger of division is high, let us give thanks that our political leaders are doing all they can to ward off panic, to maintain social cohesion, and generally to instil a sense of oh hell I can’t even finish this sentence it’s so preposterous.

Commuters, truckers and tourists attempting to cross the border into Detroit may be facing a huge slowdown by the end of this week thanks to a political battle in Washington that has U.S. Department of Homeland Security facing a partial shutdown.

A historic Supreme Court of Canada ruling that affirms workers’ right to strike opens the door for 17 federal unions to launch a similar constitutional challenge of the Conservative government’s changes to labour laws in the public service.

I don’t know about impossible, but given that it’s taken almost 20 years to churn out five instalments of this series – something the early Bond franchise managed in six years, and the 1960s M:I TV show in just six weeks – these missions are certainly a lot of work